Author: suzanneedwards161

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Our March meeting on Monday was led by Andy Chapman, who also spoke to us in Oct 2023, on the “Search for Northampton Castle”, which really showed us how important Northampton was in the Middle Ages. Monday’s talk illustrated how this growth in the town stemmed from a reasonably significant Anglo Saxon fortified settlement or “burh” that had developed after the Roman era. Several digs over the last 30+ years have gradually revealed evidence of significant Anglo-Saxon development close to today’s St Peter’s Church, the railway station and the post Norman castle which followed it but has since been lost under said railway station(s). The plan below shows the footprint of the early stave timber building with 2 side chambers and a central entrance, later replaced by a much larger stone-built complex which lay within Ango Saxon “Ham-tun”.

A range of late Saxon artefacts have been found here as well as in several areas around / beyond the town, including Brackmills and Wollaston . Earlier archaeologists proposed this was some sort of Saxon palace, however the pre-Norman dating of St Peter’s and the now lost St Gregory’s Church would suggest that before the castle, Hamtun was a fairly significant settlement with an ecclesiastic focus supported by a community of people. 

For those who were unable to join us on Monday, I am pleased to report that the Welton History Project is coming on apace. Using a Google maps platform we have plotted 22 houses, 11 Lost Treasures, 5 public buildings. There is a significant amount of collated history for a number of these buildings although it is a work in progress to complete it for all. We have also created a People of Welton section, focusing on families and individuals over time, including the Clarkes, Garrards, George Smith of Coalville (who lived in Welton!), the Emerys and Sir Stephen Hill of The Firs who became Governor of Newfoundland! We have also completed a detailed history of St Martin’s Church and Welton School. 

We have also set up a Welton History / Memories group on Facebook, which has been amazingly useful in sourcing a huge number of vintage photographs and details regarding buildings, events and traditions in the village. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Welton Recreation Trust for their continued support of our group. They recently agreed to fund a 2-year license for Flikr which has enabled us to create a digital photo album for the project organised on a street-by-street basis. These photographs are also attached to property and event specific sections of the website. Additionally, we also plan to host a Welton History website which will keep all our meeting notes, research materials and links, newsletters all in one place. This will feed selectively into the History Group section of the parish council but in a streamlined way. More news on this will follow in due course.  

Finally, a big thank you to so many people for stepping forward and sharing their memories and memorabilia associated with places in the village. If you can help with our research, please do email me at suzanne.edwards161@icloud.com

Dates for your diary

Monday 27th April:  Our next meeting, led by Stephen Barker, will give us an illustrated and no doubt fascinating account of the most significant battle of the Civil War: Naseby. With thanks in advance to Richard Proto, we hope this will be followed up with a Welton Walkers group foray onto the battlefield to see some it for ourselves. 

Tuesday 19^th May:  a special WHG meeting in which we will walk you through the website and take a deeper dive into some key areas. This will be in the Village Hall at 7.30pm as usual but will be free of charge as it is an additional meeting to the published schedule.  Also, Karen O’Mahoney and I will be giving a very brief introduction to the platform at The Good Neighbours group on April 14^th. Please do support this project by letting people who may not be members of the History Group know about these events. We very much want this to be a history of Welton by Weltonians and for all members of our community. 

WHG annual walk: Tuesday 19^th May 10.30am which this year is being led by Mike Tebbitt around the remains of the abandoned village of Wulfhamcote.  There will be a small charge of £3 for this meeting to cover speaker costs. If you could bring cash on the day this would be very helpful. Meet at The Boat House pub car park. Car sharing available. If you would like a lift, please drop me an email. Duration – approximately 2 hours. 

History events slightly further afield 

Ashby St Ledger’s Open Garden Day at the Manor House: Sunday 10^th May: 11.00-5.00pm Booking required. For more information visit https://findagarden.ngs.org.uk

Towcester Museum and Visitor Centre: April 1^st: 11am-2pm: archaeological digs and Roman activities

Kelmarsh Hall and Gardens: April 5^th and 6^th: Spring Fair: stalls inside and outside.    

St Mary’s Church, Little Addington: April 17^th – an evening of railway nostalgia 

And finally, where in Welton is this?

No prizes – just for fun!

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Thank you to all who joined us for our February meeting on Monday, where we were joined by Martin Heath who took us on a journey through the BBC from approximately 1967 to the present day. It was a trip down memory lane for many with clips from some old favourites such as Morecambe and Wise and John Craven’s Newsround as well as an opportunity to reflect on the many innovative things the BBC has done over time to deliver on its remit to “provide impartial, high quality and distinctive output that informs, educates and entertains” [BBC Charter].

And whilst he may not have referred to the Woodentops specifically, I felt I had to include this little bit of nostalgia for past and simpler times!

Our next meeting will be at 7.30pm on March 30^th when Andy Chapman, who has delivered several talks to the group, will be talking to us about what it was like to live in Northampton before the Great Fire of September 1675. All too often Northampton is dismissed as a Midlands town with a history of shoe and boot making, without due recognition that in medieval times it was a highly important city with its castle which was frequently used as a royal residence, with churches, a university and was a key centre for trade and politics. Do come along to find out more and spread the word to others!

History Themed Activities in our area: You may be interested in the following:

• Northampton Museum and Art Gallery: Carboniferous Monsters Exhibition: see below.
• Daventry Museum: Sport and Leisure exhibition covering local legends to community favourites. Did you know that Harold Saxon Snell, a Northampton cricketer and local solicitor lived in our village? The exhibition runs until 12^th June 2026.
• British Science Week event: 7^th March at Daventry Museum  – for families and children.

Finally, why not GET DIGGING? Ever found something of note in your garden? On 22^nd May, Eleanor Cox, Northamptonshire Finds Liaison Officer will be at the Daventry Museum inspecting and recording your finds between 10.30am-1.30pm, for timed consultation slots. Advance booking needed. For more details visit the Daventry Museum website: https://daventrymuseum.org.uk . Time Team Welton could start here!

Thank you to all who joined us at our January and AGM event at The White Horse last Monday 26^th January. We had 41 attending on the night with many new faces, which was really encouraging.  Our focus for the evening was the sharing of our collective knowledge of the history of our village in relation to various houses and landmarks and I think the number attending was a sign of the very real interest there is to celebrate Welton and its past amongst the community. 

Our next task is to collate the information shared on the night and to extend this in order to produce a coherent and engaging history of Welton as well as its people – past and present – that can be made accessible to all. I am very grateful to Karen O’Mahoney for stepping forward to help in this project and to others who have generously given us access to house records, legal documentation and photographs to help us bring this topic alive. I am especially grateful to the staff at Welton CE Academy who have lent us materials from their archive including headteacher record books dating back to the start of the 20^th century. These will be a fascinating read, I’m sure. 

If you would like to get involved in this exciting project or are happy to share materials or knowledge about your part of the village, please do email me at the address below.

Our next meeting will be in the village hall at 7.30pm on Monday 23^rd February. Our speaker will be Martin Heath and the subject “The BBC – the next 50 years”. You may recall that Martin visited us a couple of years ago and spoke very engagingly and informatively about the first 50 years of the BBC, so I’m sure the sequel will be of interest to many. Do please join us if you can – all welcome for a small charge of £5pp on the door to cover hall and speaker costs, payable by cash or card on the door. 

Finally, it would be great to welcome some new members to the WHG committee. This is not a huge job but it is a very important one. This is the time of year when we finalise our annual programme for the next season and consider ways in which we can bring Welton’s history to all. We meet 3 times a year and would love your support! If you are interested in joining the committee, please drop me an email or chat to one of us at the next meeting. 

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on February 23^rd.

Suzanne Edwards

suzanne.edwards161@icloud.com

Thank you to those brave folk who ventured out into the cold night to support our last meeting of the year on 24^th November. Our speaker on this occasion was John Frearson who spoke about the early photographers of Rugby and through a slide show of their works gave us a real insight into the reason why photography was such a busy trade in the past and how different life was in those early days. 

A summary of the talk will follow separately however if you would like to learn more about this topic there is a copy of John’s book, “Early Photographers in Rugby”, in our book collection. This will be available for borrowing at our next meeting in the village hall on 23^rd February 2026! If anyone would like it sooner, please email me on suzanne.edwards161@icloud.com and I will get it to you!

January AGM and social meeting – Monday 26^th January 2026

The White Horse, Welton

In 1086 The Domesday Book was written and includes reference to Welton. 940 years later, the Welton History Group is setting out to develop its own record of the properties across our village, albeit on a very different scale!

Inspired by the painting in the White Horse we will be focusing on this in our January pub gathering. By drawing together as much as we can glean from historic records, we will have our own local “Where the X are we?” competition – all from the comfort of the pub dining room. And we need residents’ help!

Do you have any old(ish) pictures of Welton? Can you share your knowledge about your house, road, area of the village? What stories about our village in days gone past should we try to capture? If you can help, please contact WHG with details so we can build a resource about our village for current and future residents. Do speak to any of the committee (Peter Walls, Nigel and Judi Le Gresley, Trish Ridgway or email me at suzanne.edwards161@icloud.com

We are particularly interested in properties on the painting which include: St Martin’s Church, The School, The Village Hall, The White Horse, St Martin’s Cottage, Oakmoor, Well Cottage, The Firs, The Old Red Lion, The Old House, Welton Manor, Stone House, Wisteria Cottage, South Lodge  as well as Welton Hythe, The Spinney and some of our majestic trees. Wherever you are and whatever you can add – every nugget of information would be really appreciated! Again, please email me at the address above if you can help in any way. 

Our next meeting in the village hall will be on Monday 23^rd February 2026 when we will be joined by Martin Heath, who is returning to follow up his talk on the BBC – the first 50 years, with the BBC – the next 50 years!Martin was a very interesting and engaging speaker last time and we are looking forward to welcoming him back. I do hope you will be able to join us!

Finally, as you can imagine it is important to try to boost numbers and maintain a thriving local interest in the WHG across the village. So, please do promote us where and when you can and if you have any suggestions for ways in which we can improve the offer to the residents of Welton, please let me know. In the meantime, I wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!